


Scraps

by zarabithia



Category: DCU (Comics)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-08-25
Updated: 2006-08-25
Packaged: 2019-05-19 15:43:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 735
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14876634
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zarabithia/pseuds/zarabithia
Summary: Cissie contemplates the changes in what it has meant to be Speedy over the course of her life.





	Scraps

When Cissie had been six years old, her mother had wanted her to be Speedy. She'd shown pictures to Cissie, and all Cissie had really cared about was that Speedy's costume looked a lot cooler and a _lot_ more comfortable than her own.

That had been when she was six. She's a lot older now. Her feelings towards Speedy have changed, just as the person behind the Speedy costume changed. Speedy's gone from being a red haired boy under Green Arrow's care to being a blond haired girl under Green Arrow's care. Admittedly, it was that change - the addition of the new Speedy - that prompted Cissie to begin compiling the Scrap Book.

The Scrap Book - and that's how Cissie sees it, in capital letters - sits underneath a pile of clothes that don't fit anymore, over top of her old costume, at the back of the bottom dresser door in Cissie's room. She pulls it out occasionally to add news clippings given to her by Cassie, printed Yahoo news bites, and the news clippings from the _Star Gazette_ subscription that her mother has.

 _Still_ has.

Along with the Speedy clippings, her mother sends the ones with Green Arrow as well. . . with the occasional notation about the nose and mouth that her mother insists he passed onto his daughter.

Cissie's heard those comments since before she even realized what they meant. She'd never really liked her mother's boastful comments about her father's identity much, and she likes them even less these days. Cissie's not sure if you can actually _read_ a Scrap Book, but she does know that she has spent many hours pouring over the pages of her Book, searching for any signs of resemblance that the new Speedy might share with Green Arrow. Plenty of people have blond hair, so Cissie doesn't count that as a resemblance. She never actually finds any clue pointing to what she looks for, and she can't decide whether or not she's happy about that. She's not sure whether she'd prefer that the blond girl that isn't her at Green Arrow's side be a sister or a stranger.

Occasionally, her mother sends a clipping with the other Green Arrow - the one that took over after the first one "died." Cissie searches his pictures for resemblance too, and when she finds some, all Cissie can do is trace her own nose and mouth, that are reflected so well in the pictures in her Book. Her mother doesn't like the second Green Arrow much. After the first one's death, Cissie's mother had made her disgust for the replacement Archer very clear, with some well placed comments about the replacement's shooting ability, or lack thereof.

But, judging purely by the pictures Cissie has in her Scrap Book, she thinks she would like the second Green Arrow just fine. He looks very kind - as kind as Cassie assures Cissie the new Speedy is. But, looking at his solemn face, Cissie has long since decided that, while he makes a wonderful Green Arrow, he could never be a Speedy.

Although Cissie had long since given up the the superhero life - and she has no intention of ever going back - the smiling blond haired girl looking up from her news clippings collection tells her that _Cissie_ could very well have been Speedy. She supposes that was what her mother had been trying to tell her, all those years ago, when she'd shown Cissie pictures of the red haired little boy at Green Arrow's side. But Cissie isn't six years old anymore, and she has entirely different feelings about Speedy than she did back then.

It isn't about cool costumes anymore. It's about knowing that her aim _is_ better than the _other_ blond haired girl taking Cissie's place at Green Arrow's side. Moreover, it's about knowing that the pictures in her Scrap Book only tell half of the story of the other girl's life. Cissie cares far more about the part of the girl's life that the pictures represent - the part of their lives that she can't see. She especially wonders about the practices Speedy must get to share with Green Arrow.

Cissie had only been able to practice with her mother. She may be retired now - and _for very good reasons -_ but natural curiosity overcomes her when she looks through her Book. She can't help but wonder what it must be like practice with her father.  



End file.
